6 Strengths of being a scanner personality (Scanner series II)
In 2018, I discovered the idea of a certain personality type, one called “scanner” or “multipotentialite” by various authors.
On Being a scanner personality (Scanner Series I)
6 Strengths of being a scanner personality (Scanner series II) (you are here)
5 Patterns and tips for scanner personalities (Scanner series III)
4 challenges of my scanner personality that I still encounter regularly (Scanner series IV)
Quick recap: what is a scanner (multipotentialite, polymath) personality? John Williams from the business/ entrepreneur company “The Ideas Lab” sums it up nicely:
Do you have varied interests that don’t often group together very neatly?
Do you have more ideas than you can possibly execute in one lifetime?
Do you find that you love learning the gist of something — you get just into a topic and then as soon as you’ve got a feel for it you move on to something completely different?
Do you find the idea of a one-track conventional career absolutely horrifying?
Do you find that you are better at starting things and not so great at finishing them?
Since writing that original article in 2018, I’ve changed my career from web (graphic) designer to innovation architect to communication trainer to web developer and, as of last year, to full-stack developer. My day job now consists of developing web apps and backend services, and I’ve gone back to being a full-time employee after several years of self-employment.
Throughout all this, I’ve been able to embrace my scanner personality as a strength and be proud of my variety of hobbies and skills.
In this article, I would like to share what I’ve learned or developed in the last years regarding seeing myself as a “scanner” personality type.
6 Strengths of being a scanner personality
You have a sense of wonder about the world.
Really, next to learning, a core strength of a scanner is curiosity and wonder about the world. I find myself marveling at so many topics, the infinite depths of human creativity, quirkiness, and weirdness.
It often gives me strength to find that we can, in general, create the most wonderful melodies, the most stunning artworks, the most meaningful poems — and at the same time, be playful about life, encapsulate emotions in songs, and laugh at stupid memes.
Seeing this diversity feels freeing and hopeful — to the point where I can be resilient and brave in challenging times. Humans are amazing, and with a scanner mindset you’ll train yourself to find evidence of this every day.
You’re really good at learning new things.
Scanners are, by trait, constantly learning, researching, reading about a variety of topics. There is as much interesting knowledge in history (ancient Sumerian culture maybe?) as there is in obscure programming languagesand the latest in breakcore metal music.
Constantly learning also often means that scanners develop effective ways of getting into a new topic. I’ve found that I look for systemic overviews of new topics; I can then structure my quest for knowledge in a way that makes sense to me. In doing this, I don’t just follow procedure from A to B, but find out why A exists and why B exists and why I need to get there!
You’re always asking why
Maybe it’s just me, but knowledge is more than just information. Truly useful knowledge — wisdom, almost — comes from asking “why?” more than anything else. Why are things the way they are? The more you “scan”, the more you can compare and see patterns. Why are companies organized one way, but armies in a different way, and national governments in another way again?
You’ll start to see topics, tropes — the big picture. This can be incredibly useful to make deeper sense of the world around you.
You’re being innovative
One of the hallmark principles of innovation is synthesis: connecting previously distinct ideas to form a new product, service, or way of life. Implementing this type of innovation into daily life and job can create a distinct advantage and lead to more satisfying, useful, and sustainable solutions.
It’s also a major driver for art, where we always explore the combinations of different ideas. The ability to have a flexible mind that can hold many different, even conflicting ideas and examine them is definitely helpful in our modern world.
You’re open to change
As a scanner, you are used to starting new things. This ability to adapt is extremely useful in a rapidly changing world. Sadly I’ve found that many people rebel against even small changes, because they find adapting to new realities energy-intensive and risky.
Sure, as I’ve grown a bit older I don’t jump on any newest bandwagon and hype train anymore, but I can still get started on new programs, apps or topics fairly quickly. Scanners don’t mind change in their lives (even externally mandated, such as new software at work). This ability helps to live a slightly more independent life — you don’t panic if your phone OS changes and your settings are now located in a different app. You simply learn anew.
Change is a part of everyone’s life. As a scanner, you’re able to adopt, improvise, and overcome challenges more quickly, hopefully giving you a less stressful life.
You good at communicating between disciplines
As generalists, you can often communicate well between disciplines, making yourself understood to the involved parties. One advantage of having previously worked as a web designer and having learned about user experience is that I can use those concepts in programming.
At the same time, I understand the needs of both coders and designers so that I can effectively explain design decisions to my peers and talk about programming restraints with designers. There are many other roles where this understanding of various needs comes in handy!
Thanks for reading! Let me know what other strengths you find in being a scanner personality!
